Controlling Small Arms: Consolidation, innovation and relevance in research and policy(Studies in Conflict, Development and Peacebuilding)

This edited volume takes stock of the state of research and policy on the issue of Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW), ten years after the UN first agreed to deal with the problem. The end of the Cold War originated a series of phenomena that would subsequently come to dominate the political agenda. Perhaps most symptomatic of the ensuing environment is the marked escalation in the scale and dynamics of armed violence, driven by the proliferation of SALW. Events in Rwanda, Somalia and Bosnia seared into global consciousness the devastating effects of this phenomenon, and of the necessity to engage actively in its limitation and prevention. This edited volume explores and outlines the research and policy on the SALW issue at this critical juncture. In addition to providing a detailed telling of the genesis and evolution of SALW research and advocacy, the volume features a series of essays from leading scholars in the field on both advances in research and action on SALW. It reflects on what has been achieved in terms of cumulative advances in data, methodology and analysis, and looks at the ways in which these developments have helped to inform policy making at national, regional and international levels. Alongside situating and integrating past and present advances in advocacy and international action, Controlling Small Arms also outlines future directions for research and action. This book will be of much interest to students of small arms, peace and conflict studies, peacebuilding, security studies and IR.

Table of Contents:
Foreword, Keith Krause and Rubem César Fernandes Introduction: The Past, Present and Future of the Small Arms Policy-research Nexus, Peter Batchelor and Kai Michael Kenkel 1. The Small Arms Problem as Arms Control: A Policy-driven Research Agenda, Edward J. Laurance Part I: The Current State of Small Arms Research 2. Products and Producers: A Global Business, Peter Hall 3. Stockpiles: the Global Geography of Small Arms Numbers, Aaron Karp 4. Transfers: More Information, More Transparency, Ruxandra Stoicescu 5. Armed Actors: A New Subject of Research, Nicolas Florquin 6. Effects: An Emerging Research and Policy Agenda, Peter Batchelor and Robert Muggah 7. Measures: Informing Diplomacy—the Role of Research in the UN Small Arms Process, Glenn McDonald 8. Advocacy: Defining the Small Arms Control Agenda, Adele Kirsten Part II: Innovative Contributions to Small Arms Research 9. Firearms and Crime in Brazil, Daniel Ricardo de Castro Cerqueira and Joao Manoel Pinho de Mello 10. Challenging Modernities in Rio de Janeiro: A Critical Analysis of the ‘Pacification’ Project, Barbara Bravo and Paula Drumond 11. The Evolution and Consolidation of Norms on Small Arms, Denise Garcia Part III: Conclusions and Prospects for the Future 12. Small Arms Research: Dynamics and Emerging Challenges, Owen Greene 13. Beyond Stalemate: Advocacy and Action in the UN Small Arms Process, Jim Mclay

About the Author :
Peter Batchelor was appointed as UNDP Iraq Country Director on 1 September 2011. Prior to this appointment he held the post of UNDP Iraq Deputy Country Director. Kai Michael Kenkel is Assistant Professor (tenured) at the Institute for International Relations at the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (IRI/PUC-Rio). He is editor of South American Peace Operations (Routledge 2013).